The Year that was 2013

It’s been a helluva year of changes and let’s not forget, travel! This is a re-cap of the good and the bad, but mainly the great.

February

Cheap flights and great weather saw *P and I take a spontaneous trip to visit our friends in Adelaide. And by spontaneous, we mean we booked the tickets 6 months ago and actually planned our stay. We had a splendid time with our friends who took us around the CBD, the Barossa and McLaren Vale feasting here, there and everywhere. It was great to be out of the CBD for once.

April

I resigned from my position at the company I had worked for for 6 years. I was an emotional wreck on my last day, sad to be leaving a great group of people I had worked with and happy to be leaving all the office politics.

And with my annual leave payout, I went on a 3 week holiday to attend a wedding in Seoul. The union of Mr. & Mrs. Li was truly special. There was a westernised (and commercialised) wedding before the traditional Korean tea ceremony.

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I flew through Hong Kong to visit the cousins, my bestie joined me for a girly weekend and I ate my weight in fish ball noodle soups. It was the best Asian holiday in a long time.

May

I landed a new job with a small mining consultant and they sent me for my first assignment up in the Pilbara. Yes, I know I’m about 5 years late on the mining boom but whatever.

August

The Perth weather was once again proving to be miserable but there was no escaping to somewhere warm as I was due to fly out to Melbourne to celebrate my mother’s 50th (and visit friends). It was a fabulous occasion and she was showered with diamonds and pearls as a lady of that age should be. We celebrated over vino and Chinese food in Footscray and then spent an hour waiting for a cab (apparently no cabs run out there after 8pm). Killjoy.

September

I adopted a fur child named Marceline from Cat Haven in order to ground myself, spend more time at home and submit to societies’ expectations of a twenty-something young professional.

Since I got her, I’ve been away for 5 out of the 16 weeks. Mission failed?

November

It seems like this year was the year for the Li’s to get married because another Mr. & Mrs. Li got married. *A is a close friend of mine and it was a pleasure to be part of the wedding as one part of the MC team. Friends flew from afar and for those who couldn’t attend, we improvised. *K (his now wife) looked stunning in all 3 dresses (!!!) and so did the bridesmaids and groomsmen. There were tears and laughter, and more laughter, and just fun times all round. I wish you both a blissful life together and many baminos ahead. xx

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In between all the excitement of what to wear to the wedding and MC duties, I was frantically packing my bags for my Californian adventure. Since I missed out on going to the States earlier in the year (attended the first Mr. & Mrs. Li’s wedding), I was determined to make it happen this year despite hating the cold weather. So off I went and dang, what a blast! *E was great to travel with on the road (despite not being able to drive – part of my lessons learnt on the road) and I was truly grateful *J flew across the country to catch up. Love those guys.

December

Birthday week celebrations started the moment I landed in Perth after a month in the States. It flew past so quickly, but I do remember there was a lot of eating and drinking (the bottle of Schramsberg champers from Napa went down well).

Once birthday week was up, it was Christmas preparations. I did the annual charity gift wrap, got in early with the Secret Santa and planned a very multicultural spread for the family. Meat and wine from South Africa, tapas from Spain, fresh seafood from the Australian oceans and a Chinese take on traditional salads.

After the Christmas food comas (yes, that’s a plural), I began looking at the number of trips I have “planned” for 2014 and started getting scared. Three weddings (with the potential of 1 more), 30th birthday South America trip, (maybe) a safari with the grandmother and moving to Canada. There goes the idea of travelling less and saving for said Canada move…

Hope you had a cracker 2013 like I did! Wishing you and your family a happy and safe holiday, many travels and plenty of rest and recovery for an amazing 2014 ahead!

Who’s sc?

A typical Sagittarius who is always on the go.
An engineer by day and a wanderer of the world by night.
Currently based in Vancouver BC and addicted to sweet kale salad, wheat beer, tennis and funky prints.
Get to know me more here.